Wednesday, June 2, 2010

LITTLETON, USA & AIX-EN-PROVENCE, FRANCE: CPI Card Group and INSIDE Contactless have introduced a next-generation, MasterCard-approved payment tag that continues to pave the way for mobile commerce adoption by enabling any mobile device to be used to make payments anywhere using the worldwide contactless MasterCard PayPass standard.

Containing all the functionality of a traditional MasterCard PayPass credit, debit or prepaid debit card, the new sticker is based on INSIDE’s proven MicroPass 4003 contactless payment processor and manufactured and pre-personalized by CPI Card Group.

“CPI deployed more contactless payment cards last year than any other company in the market, and now we are firmly in the mobile payment arena with an enhanced sticker product that brings greater choice to card issuers,” said Tom Waters, vice president of sales and marketing at CPI Card Group. “With CPI’s efficient and highly scalable manufacturing and pre-personalization systems, we believe we can offer this product at very competitive price levels.”

CPI has already established a scalable operational process for producing these payment stickers using prelams delivered from INSIDE. The stickers will be delivered from CPI already pre-cut from ID1 card devices and pre-personalized to allow for personalization and fulfillment using traditional card processing equipment.

“We are very excited by today’s announcement, which represents the latest result of our partnership with CPI and demonstrates our commitment to the mobile payments market,” said Charles Walton, executive vice president for INSIDE Contactless.

“These stickers have the potential to transform the mobile payment market in the US by enabling anyone to make PayPass payments with their mobile phone, thus setting the stage to ultimately achieve fully integrated NFC payment and other applications.”

In addition to MasterCard type approval, the new mobile payment sticker offers enhanced performance when compared with other sticker products on the market. Extensive accredited laboratory testing with all major mobile handsets ensures a safe and satisfying user experience.

A new, advanced adhesive backing not only adheres to mobile phones better, but also allows the sticker to be removed and reapplied multiple times without losing its grip. An innovative shielding design improves performance by protecting the chip and antenna inside the sticker from interference that might be caused by a mobile phone’s signals and metallic materials. The sticker solution is highly scalable to millions of units per month since traditional card manufacturing and personalization systems are utilized.

“We are very pleased to be able to grant type approval for this new mobile sticker product,” said Cathleen Conforti, senior vice president, Global PayPass, MasterCard Worldwide. “Vendor solutions such as this tag are an essential part of MasterCard PayPass and play an important role in advancing mobile payments by providing consumers with Tap & Go convenience using the phones they already carry everywhere.”

Since it was first launched at CARTES in November 2005, the award-winning MicroPass intelligent payment platform has achieved its unprecedented success by continuing to deliver superior performance and flexibility, and is now the platform of choice for certified contactless bank card manufacturers around the world.

The new MasterCard-approved mobile payment stickers are available now from CPI.